Controlling infectious diseases is still one of the greatest challenges in both human and veterinary medicine. The situation is particularly complex in the case of viral infections, which, in contrast to bacterial infections, generally cannot be treated with broad-spectrum active substances and are the cause of major economic damages. Developing novel, effective vaccination strategies against viral illnesses is therefore extremely important.
“Attenuated” viruses, i.e. viruses modified by mutagenesis that have significantly reduced or no virulence (“live vaccines”) or inactivated viruses (“dead vaccines”) are traditionally used for prophylactic and also for therapeutic vaccination against viral diseases. Recently so-called “subunit vaccines” or “subunit marker vaccines” have become more established, wherein defined genetically produced “major antigens” of the pathogen are used for vaccination. The term “marker vaccine” implies that vaccinated individuals may be clearly differentiated from naturally infected individuals using subsequent diagnostic analysis. Major antigens are for instance proteins of the virus shell or virus capsid that may induce a humoral and/or cellular immune response in the host in the absence of a complete virus particle, and as a result of this viral infection may be preventively or therapeutically defended or combated. A “subunit vaccination” requires that major antigens are characterized. Production (expression) and immunogenic formulation of such proteins (“antigen formulation”) become key for the vaccination process, especially since virus shell proteins are generally not water-soluble and may only rarely be produced recombinantly in bacterial expression systems. Methods for obtaining “subunit” vaccines in a purified form and for assuring their storability are correspondingly complex.